# Looking for some feedback on my cigar pictures.



## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Over the past few months I have taken some cigar pictures with a basic camera just as a hobby...maybe as a way to remember some, others I used for reviews, and some just to see how well they would come out.

If you have a chance to view some of my profile pictures and leave me some feedback I'd appreciate it very much.

Thanks Guys!

This link should work http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/members/bn087-albums-my-cigar-pictures.html


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

Looks good. The only thing I concern myself with when taking photos is lighting, and composition. Play around with the composition of your subject. When taking photos of a cigar, get rid of as much distractions in the background as possible.


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

Examples of composition:


























A big difference compared to these:


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

ckay said:


> Looks good. The only thing I concern myself with when taking photos is lighting, and composition. Play around with the composition of your subject. When taking photos of a cigar, get rid of as much distractions in the background as possible.


Sounds like a perfect opportunity to play around with some bokeh.


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

guitar7272 said:


> Sounds like a perfect opportunity to play around with some bokeh.


Playing around with depth is awesome. I've been away from photography for a while, but when I do, I can get lost in taking various version of the same subject based solely on boken...LOL!

I remember shooting film in an elective course at school, and I'd get 3-4 keepers...whereas with my digi, I can shoot all day and press the delete button.


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

I have to say that cigars can be tough subjects to light. Taking photos of foil, reflective bands is a bit of pain.

Chris I like your use of depth of field to highlight the middle stick.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Good advice but it went over my head...I don't have any special equipment which I would like to invest in. However, your pictures are amazing...they make mine look like cell phone snaps! But, I did want the feedback.

Can the pictures you took be done with a Casio Exilim 12.1MP, nothing fancy but a step up from my old school film camera.

I used to play with photoshop but lost my subscription...are those slightly edited or just camera settings?


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

Bradley, your off to a good start. Your composition are a little static.

Spend some time with a few catalogs and try copying those photos. I hate to say don't worry to much about light at this point because lighting is every thing but without more than one light source your going to have a tough time copying the light in those catalog shots.

Once you get the feel for composition do a little research on setting up a basic light table. You can setup something with a little pvc pipe, opaque plastic sheets or sheer cloth and a few cheap clip on metal bell reflector lights that will give your shots a kind of pro feel to them.

For what ever it is worth I shoot product photography like this for a living.


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## Ongathula (Jul 21, 2010)

Great photos! I am partial to the center stick. Almost like a Broadway actor on center stage waiting for the applause.


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

Slowpokebill said:


> Bradley, your off to a good start. Your composition are a little static.
> 
> Spend some time with a few catalogs and try copying those photos. I hate to say don't worry to much about light at this point because lighting is every thing but without more than one light source your going to have a tough time copying the light in those catalog shots.
> 
> ...


That is a beautiful over under... man I wish I had the cash...


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## Famous Cigars (Jul 26, 2010)

Nice Pics!


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## Mante (Dec 25, 2009)

I must say, as an unexperienced photographer, this is by far the best you posted. It has depth, color, contrast & all lead to an exciting image. Nice!


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

bn087 said:


> Good advice but it went over my head...I don't have any special equipment which I would like to invest in. However, your pictures are amazing...they make mine look like cell phone snaps! But, I did want the feedback.
> 
> Can the pictures you took be done with a Casio Exilim 12.1MP, nothing fancy but a step up from my old school film camera.
> 
> I used to play with photoshop but lost my subscription...are those slightly edited or just camera settings?


You can get the results with a P&S and practice. Understand the functions of your camera. It is a case of the Indian and not the arrow.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Slowpokebill said:


> Bradley, your off to a good start. Your composition are a little static.
> 
> Spend some time with a few catalogs and try copying those photos. I hate to say don't worry to much about light at this point because lighting is every thing but without more than one light source your going to have a tough time copying the light in those catalog shots.
> 
> ...


That is a beautiful gun and a print worth purchasing....nice!


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Tashaz said:


> I must say, as an unexperienced photographer, this is by far the best you posted. It has depth, color, contrast & all lead to an exciting image. Nice!


I agree, nice work on this picture.


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

bn087 said:


> Good advice but it went over my head...I don't have any special equipment which I would like to invest in. However, your pictures are amazing...they make mine look like cell phone snaps! But, I did want the feedback.
> 
> Can the pictures you took be done with a Casio Exilim 12.1MP, nothing fancy but a step up from my old school film camera.
> 
> I used to play with photoshop but lost my subscription...are those slightly edited or just camera settings?


I didn't take the Opus photo but I can tell you how to duplicate it and come close. You might be able to take it with the Casio but a little digital SLR would make it much easier.

The picture will need to be rotated and cropped.

To start you lay the sticks against each other one after another going away from you. Then shoot from about a 45 degree angle with the focus on the middle stick. If your camera allows manual over rides from auto or has several different shooting modes find one that will allow aperture over ride. You want to take the image with a pretty open aperture. That will be a small number like 2 or 2.8 or maybe 4. You want a number that will give you what is called the depth of field (the area that is in focus) that is about one stick wide. The bigger the aperture number the wider the area in that is in focus. Okay for the confusing part the bigger the number the small the aperture real is open.

So you snap the photo then you need to rotate it some in Photoshop or another program and crop it so it looks like it was take on the diagonal.

Okay that will give you the basic look but lighting is the next key. 

An easy way to light that shot would be a fluorescent bar running parallel to the sticks opposite the camera with a reflector on the camera side. I would put some sheer white cloth in front of the tube to soften and diffuse the light some. The fluorescent tube would give you that nice long highlight you see on the cigars. Some white foam core board would work as a reflector to fill back in the light from the camera side. 

I hope that helps. 

Now get creative.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Tonight I am going to play a bit and post a picture on here...in hopes of doing something impressive....or something more than a simple focused image which I then sharpen to show the details. I do not have funds for an SLR, and if I did I'd probably just by more cigars since that is my hobby over snapping pictures of them 

But my Casio Exilim does have lots of shooting modes, none really are customizable but something should be close. The pictures I do of the cigars now are in "Detail/Jewelry Mode", that way I can focus on the labels.

We'll see what I can come up with. Thanks for the feedback and check back here around 10:00.


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

Look for a manual mode. Most P&S have them.


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## Sigarz (Jul 29, 2006)

bn087 said:


> I agree, nice work on this picture.


This one is my favorite too, and I just noticed its through the cellophane, I like the effect it has.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Heres what I did with camera settings today....


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

I am going to edit some stuff on PhotoImpact Pro to see if I can make some tweaks, but compared to what was viewed earlier...what feedback do you have on these?

Expect another image or two in a bit...thanks guys!


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)




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## phager (Jun 28, 2010)

Personally, I love the sepia tones in the first photo. But I'm also really liking the highlighting on the last photo.

Either way, I think you photos are quite good, and definitely something I'd aspire to


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## Slowpokebill (Nov 29, 2008)

Here is a quick critique. The black and white is the best and this is composition thing. The other two photos feel like the cigars and bottle want to roll off and out of the picture. They are just a little uncomfortable feeling. you don't get that feeling with the b&w.

You are headed in the right direction.


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

Big improvement. It's funny how composition changes the mood of the photo. Good stuff.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

ckay said:


> Big improvement. It's funny how composition changes the mood of the photo. Good stuff.


Thanks...I honestly surprised myself.

When focusing on lighting I didn't have anything professional but I have a floor lamp on my back porch which I put a daylight bulb in, then I used a halogen bulb which is a second light I plugged in, that plus the flash gave me three lights from different distances.

Then I played with other options on the Casio to get clearer pictures, my favorite being the Sepia and Monochrome in "detail" mode.

After seeing the results I wanted to play more, but the battery died...will revisit again tonight.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Slowpokebill said:


> Here is a quick critique. The black and white is the best and this is composition thing. The other two photos feel like the cigars and bottle want to roll off and out of the picture. They are just a little uncomfortable feeling. you don't get that feeling with the b&w.
> 
> You are headed in the right direction.


Thanks...on second glance I do see that the cigars appear to be falling off the picture...and they were on a slant, so thats why the box pressed la riqueza is holding them up 

On a side note...the bourbon is now opened and I must say it will be a go-to for something under 20.00. I found it at a local liquor store for 17.99. With a baby on the way, I'm hunting for cheaper but quality beverages to enjoy with my cigars.


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

As you keep shooting, not only cigars, you'll develop your own style and creativity. Keep shooting and have fun with it. The beauty about digital is if you don't like it, you can delete it. I remember shooting film and only 2-3 shots were worthy of print.


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## guitar7272 (Sep 24, 2008)

ckay said:


> As you keep shooting, not only cigars, you'll develop your own style and creativity. Keep shooting and have fun with it. The beauty about digital is if you don't like it, you can delete it. I remember shooting film and only 2-3 shots were worthy of print.


Oh I remember those days... I took computer graphics and photography my last two years of high school. They gave us cameras loaded with B&W film to carry around all day and then we'd develop them in the blackroom during class. I was lucky to get a couple of good shots from every roll. I woulda killed to have my Nikon D300 back then!


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## ckay (May 10, 2010)

guitar7272 said:


> Oh I remember those days... I took computer graphics and photography my last two years of high school. They gave us cameras loaded with B&W film to carry around all day and then we'd develop them in the blackroom during class. I was lucky to get a couple of good shots from every roll. I woulda killed to have my Nikon D300 back then!


I took it during a summer semester for my art requirement in college...it was me and 11 girls. Nice!


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## UGA07 (Jul 28, 2010)

Nice pics!


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## codykrr (Jul 30, 2010)

nice pictures! Here is a few suggestions, try backing up a bit to get more of both subjects into the frame. unless you want people to notice one area first, try playing with the apature, maybe make the background less detailed so you can make the eye catch the cigars first.

Also try different backdrops, you would be amazed at how a backdrop can ruin the composition of a photo just by having something distracting in the background. 

Try colored felt back drops, wood cutting boards(there cheap and can give that classy, or rustic look) also watch the flash, you dont want cigars in the wrapper to have a glare covering the label, or the band. 

Just few friendly suggestions. I too love photography, my main subjects are bugs, but really similar to what you are trying to accomplish.


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## bn087 (Jun 22, 2009)

Thanks for the continued advice...been to busy to take more pictures. Have had a bit of fun with PhotoImpact...not neat what PS can do but as I mentioned before, its expensive and not a necessity in my life.

This is my current desktop background:


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## J0eybb (Feb 26, 2010)

bn087 said:


> Thanks for the continued advice...been to busy to take more pictures. Have had a bit of fun with PhotoImpact...not neat what PS can do but as I mentioned before, its expensive and not a necessity in my life.
> 
> This is my current desktop background:


POW


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